Prototypes

Jerry Merryman, one of three people at Texas Instruments credited with inventing the world’s first handheld electronic calculator in the 1960s, died at a Dallas hospital on February 27th. Merryman was 86 years old. Read More >>

In just the last week, we’ve seen two incredibly impressive bendy phones in the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X. But they won’t be the last, as evidenced by TCL’s – or Alcatel as the company is known in the UK – own bendy phone concepts shown off at MWC. Read More >>

Do you remember back in the '90s, when high-definition TVs first started to become popular? Seeing that HD for the first time, the sharpness seemed almost impossible compared to existing technology. But this year, several top tech companies showed off 8K screens with 16-times as many pixels as those old 1080p HD TVs. For me, seeing these new super sharp TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) felt like the first time all over again. Read More >>

At Lenovo’s Tech World conference in San Francisco last week, the company showed off Folio, a fully-functional prototype with flexible screen that allows it to transform from a smartphone-sized mobile device to a larger tablet. The idea, of course, is to put the best features of both devices into a gadget you can easily carry in your pocket. Read More >>

Unless they’ve got stake in a big oil company, the most common reasons people have for opposing the installation of wind turbines is the noise pollution and the risk they pose to birds. But a radically redesigned turbine with flapping wings instead of spinning blades might finally solve both of those problems. Read More >>

Tired of teaching your older family members how to use their smartphones every time you visit? Just do what YouTube’s Mr. Volt did and build a custom mobile phone out of aluminium, brass, and wood with a working rotary dial that’s reminiscent of the ancient landline phones introduced back in the 1920s. Read More >>

Someday, perhaps we will have a little space house all of our own, over whose white picket fence we can watch the sun(s) set into the red sky over our exoplanet ranch. Until then, these six new prototype deep space habitat designs that NASA just released will have to do. Read More >>

The dual-screen Nintendo DS wasn’t warmly received when first revealed, but it’s gone on to be one of the company’s best-selling consoles. And a team of researchers have come up with a convincing argument as to why a smartwatch might actually be improved with two screens as well. Read More >>

The ultimate smart device does exactly what you want before you to tell it to. It sounds like an impossible expectation, but Microsoft brings us one step closer to that fantasy with a prototype smartphone that can detect and react to hover gestures before you even tap the screen. Read More >>

Want to see what the future looks like? Sony plans to help with the creation of a new research and development wing called the Future Lab Program, which intends to share the company’s early prototypes with the world in order to refine its ideas. Read More >>

It might just be a one-off prototype, but new parents who can’t go anywhere without a toddler in tow will love the idea of a stroller with built-in sensors that allow it to autonomously follow someone, while intelligently avoiding collisions. Read More >>

Video has emerged of a prototype Microsoft/Nokia Windows Phone model, one codenamed "McLaren" that was supposed to be a high-end model to replace the Lumia 1020 and offer a new 3D Touch interface option. It never came out, obviously, else we'd remember not buying it. Read More >>

Have you ever found your car stranded in a car park because some neighbouring drivers have parked too close for you to even open the door? That’s one problem that Jaguar Land Rover’s new prototype remote app can solve, letting you back your vehicle out of a tight spot using your smartphone. Read More >>

When square phones don't work, what's BlackBerry to do? Combine the weirdest new hardware trend and a classic old one together in one super (silly?) smartphone. Blackberry teased the new "dual-curved, all-touch display with a keyboard—yes a slider device!" at this years Mobile World Congress. Read More >>